Government Departments are complying with the requirement to pay business suppliers within 15 days of receiving a valid invoice, according to the tenth set of quarterly composite figures.
A total of 60,930 payments were made in Quarter 4 amounting to €1.481bn. Of these, a total of 49,894 payments, totalling €1.448bn, were paid within 15 days. 97.8 percent of payments were paid within 15 days compared with 97.6 percent in Quarter 3.
Furthermore, 58,046 payments were made within 30 days by Departments in the above period; while a further 8,152 payments or 13.4 percent were made between sixteen and 30 days.
9 Departments were paying in excess of 90 percent of invoices by value within 15 days; the other 7 Departments were paying in excess of 85 percent of invoices by value within 15 days. 15 Departments had paid between 93 percent and 100 percent of their invoices within 30 days, in respect of the number of invoices received, while the remaining one paid 89 percent of invoices within 30 days.
The second set of returns by the Agencies under the auspices of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation shows: A total of 20,987 payments were made in Quarter 4 by the Agencies amounting to €50m and 16,914 payments totalling €48m were paid within 15 days. These payments represent 81 percent of the total number of payments made by Departments.
A further 3,809 payments or 18 percent were made between 16 and 30 days. 11 Agencies were paying in excess of 90 percent of invoices by value within 15 days. The remaining 2 were paying between 64 percent and 71 percent in value within 15 days. All 13 Agencies paid between 89 percent and 100 percent of their invoices within 30 days, in respect of the number of payments made.
Minister for Small Business John Perry TD stated today that: “It is vitally important, that small businesses are paid quickly, so that they, in turn, can pay their respective creditors. This ripple effect helps cash flow for business and helps build up confidence in businesses right across the economy.”
He also announced his intention to implement two further initiatives, as reflected in the Action Plan for Jobs. The actions are to make available an official notice regarding 15 Day Prompt Payments Rule and to develop a Voluntary Code of Conduct on Payments (Private Sector).